Republican Congressman Eli Crane is seeking his third term representing Congressional District 2 this November.
Two years ago, he handily beat former Navajo Nation President and Democrat Jonathan Nez.
The two are facing off again this year in a much different political environment that’s created a tighter race in the mostly rural district.
A former Navy SEAL, Crane is a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. Since he was first elected in 2022, he’s allied himself closely with President Donald Trump.
And much like Trump, Crane describes the clash between Democrats and Republicans in belligerent terms.
“This is a cultural war. It's a political war. But in my opinion, most importantly, it is a spiritual war,” Crane said at a rally in Phoenix hosted by the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA earlier this year.
“Republicans are not the solution to all of your problems, but Democrats are pretty much the cause of all of your problems,” Crane added.
But during this year’s General Election, Crane has pivoted to a softer message.
In a campaign ad that’s been hard to miss on TV sets and online, Crane speaks about his support of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
“No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and a bigger child tax credit, because if you’re doing the work, you should keep more of your paycheck,” Crane says in the ad, standing in what appears to be Doney Park north of Flagstaff.
That bill, also called H.R. 1, extended previously passed tax cuts and carved out further exemptions aimed at working Americans.
But critics say the tax breaks have mostly been canceled out by higher costs caused by tariffs and other policies.
The bill also made cuts to programs like food stamps and Medicaid, often an important source of health coverage for those in rural areas.
The minority party’s Joint Economic Committee estimated the bill has put the health coverage of 41,800 residents of CD2 in jeopardy.
Rising costs and Iran war
Crane’s campaign did not respond to numerous interview requests from KNAU. And he declined to debate Nez last month.
The former Navajo President has slammed Crane for his support of Trump’s policies, accusing the two-term congressman of betraying voters.
“Based on the votes of my opponent, it just shows that some of our elected leaders are bound to the ultra-wealthy, the most powerful in this country, and not the constituents that they represent,” Nez told KNAU. “You got high prices of groceries. High prices of almost everything today. And our economy is going in a concerning direction.”
Crane’s campaign has tried to deflect the attacks. His economic-focused ads are an acknowledgement that the cost of living is a top issue for voters, who have grappled with surging prices of gas and diesel triggered by the war with Iran.
Crane has voiced skepticism about the conflict.
“Starting another Middle Eastern war was not on my bucket list of things I wanted to see accomplished in this administration,” Crane told conservative commentator and former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz on OAN in April. “I'm just hoping and praying that we get out of there as soon as possible.”
Despite those lukewarm comments, Crane has voted in lockstep with most other Republicans against several bills meant to rein in the Iran conflict.
And Crane’s campaign recently scrubbed previous mention of his opposition to “forever wars,” and promises to “rein in reckless spending” from its website.
Crane has also been a strong proponent of Trump’s stalled attempt to limit mail-in voting. And he’s an advocate for the SAVE America Act.
That bill has been passed by the House several times but so far hasn’t found much purchase in the Senate, and would require voters to present documents proving their citizenship before registering to vote.
“That would really curb illegal aliens voting in our election,” Crane told White Mountain Radio host Jineane Ford in June.
Overwhelming evidence shows that such illegal voting is extremely rare and it has been a federal crime since 1996.
A recent investigation by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office found only eight non-citizens out of 2.5 million registered voters cast ballots between 2012 and 2025.
Efforts at home
Closer to home, Crane has sought to boost northern Arizona’s tourism economy, introducing a bill to fast-track recovery of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim after the Dragon Bravo Fire.
“This is a bipartisan effort to move forward and make the Grand Canyon better than ever, and you know, we're not, we're not sitting around twiddling our thumbs,” Crane told KNAU last year.
The House unanimously passed the bill earlier this year and it was recently approved by a Senate committee.
And Crane’s bill to trade Forest Service land to Gila County for a veterans center reached the president's desk this month – the first in his congressional career.
The horse race
Recent polling has shown a tighter-than-expected race between Crane and Nez.
But the non-partisan Cook Political Report still ranks it as a likely Republican win.
“If this is even close. The Republicans have much bigger problems in CD2,” said Northern Arizona University political science professor Stephan Nuno.
Arizona’s northern most congressional district became more favorable to Republicans after the last redistricting process, and Nuno said the district’s vast nature is an added challenge.
“CD2 is structured in a way that makes it very difficult for Jonathan Nez to win an election,” Nuno said. “It's a massive geographic district that reaches from northern Arizona all the way down to southern Arizona which makes it exceptionally hard to campaign.”
That was on clear display in 2024 when Crane beat Nez by 9 points.
But with the cost of living on voters' minds, it could give the Democrat an outside chance to flip the seat.
